George J. Mitchell

George John Mitchell, Jr. (20 August 1933-) was an American diplomat who served as Senator from Maine (D) from 17 May 1980 to 3 January 1995, succeeding Edmund Muskie and preceding Olympia Snowe. Mithcell was sent as a special envoy to Northern Ireland and the Middle East during the 1990s and 2000s, and he was famous for being one of the men behind the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.

Biography
George John Mitchell, Jr. was born on 20 August 1933 in Waterville, Maine, the son of a father of Irish descent and a mother of Lebanese descent. Mitchell received a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, and he practiced law in Maine for decades. Mitchell became a judge, and he was elected to the US Senate in 1980. From 1989 to 1995, he served as Senate Majority Leader, and he became a diplomat after leaving the senate. In 1995, he was appointed a special envoy to Northern Ireland, and he helped in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, brokering a peace deal between the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the United Kingdom. He served in this post until 2001, and he served as an envoy to the Middle East from 2009 to 2011, as he was considered a proud member of the Lebanese-American community. Mitchell left this position in 2011, and he worked at the Bipartisan Policy Center as co-chair of the Housing Commission.